Advil says it’s time to throw out that expired bottle and buy a new one.

The pain medication’s promise is to deliver fast, strong relief. But it can only do that when its product is within the appropriate shelf life.

And many consumers do have expired medications on hand. Advil finds consumers have as many as 13 expired products in their medicine cabinet, said Natalie Halpern, Advil’s Senior Brand Director, citing a recent survey.

Advil recently launched a campaign, The Advil Exchange, that allows consumers to scan their expired Advil products to then receive a $3-off coupon for a new bottle. The coupon loads into a consumer’s mobile phone wallet, without the shopper needing to enter an email address or print anything. This is the first time Advil has something like this, Halpern said.

“We thought, what better way given the insight that consumers generally run on autopilot, they often have as many as 13 outdated or expired products in their medicine cabinets, what better opportunity to introduce them to the strength of Advil,” Halpern said.

Stockpiling Leads to Soft Sales

From consumer surveys, Advil knows that many consumers already have pills on hand. This occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, when shoppers stockpiled and purchased heavy counts of pain relievers, said Jill Curcio-Silver, Advil Brand Manager. Advil saw this in its purchase data, with consumers purchasing more value packs. Curcio-Silver also said there is “softness” in the category, but Advil is growing in 2026.

“The reason why we came up with tying this to a coupon first off is wanting to ensure that this program is really purchase driven,” Curcio-Silver said. “Advil has a ton of support in awareness and consideration. And while from a targeting standpoint, we wanted to make sure we had mass awareness in terms of targeting, at the end of the day, we want to make sure we’re driving product in consumer’s hands at an accessible price.”

Overall, pain relief brands typically have promotions, including Advil, Halpern said. That’s why the other prong to the campaign is driving awareness to expired products and making a change.

The $3 coupon is on any 18-plus count product, which can be a steep discount on the smaller size, the brand said.

Advil plans to run the campaign until it has 13,000 clips, and it will turn off paid media behind the campaign in mid-May, Curcio-Silver said.

Distributing the Campaign

Advil is running the campaign on TikTok, YouTube and other social channels. The brand is using 10 influencers for this campaign, who appeal to the interests of its audiences, such as sports. Influencers include former Olympians and National Basketball Association player Karl-Anthony Towns, of the New York Knicks.

Advil also ensured that its influencers had an audience that overlapped with its target and were nearby to the local retailers where consumers could use the coupon, including, Walmart, Publix and Kroger.

The brand is targeting consumers ages 30-60, active parents, everyday athletes and lapsed buyers, figuring those consumers are the most likely to have expired bottles on hand. It also looks to target frequent pain suffers, not consumers with mild discomfort.

“It’s a broad awareness campaign knowing that so many consumers have expired product in their house,” Halpren said. “As we’re looking to grow and expand the Advil brand, we’re looking at consumers who either aren’t buying today or maybe haven’t bought in a while or need a little bit of an incentive.”

How Advil Measures Success

The main ROI of the campaign is the coupons clips and redemptions. It also has key performance indicators around its influencer content, in terms of engagement, impressions and reach.

Overall, the brand has had positive response on social media comments, but Advil declined to share any other metrics. The cost of the campaign was on par with other marketing campaigns, Curcio-Silver said.

Advil began working on the campaign in December and launched in mid-March. Advil even accelerated the timeline by six months to launch it faster as it was eager to get it to market. If the campaign meets its expectations it may repeat it in the future or build off of it, Halpren said.

Advil is owned by healthcare company Haleon, which also owns Centrum, Sensodyne, Tums and more.